A Godfather and Revenge
by storyweaver24
Summary: Sirius Black one-shot. It covers the beginning and end of Sirius' and Harry's relationship. Review, please!


**A/N: Characters and plot belong to JK Rowling. Will edit more tomorrow-it's late. **

* * *

_"I am a poor wayfaring stranger  
Travelling through, this world alone"  
_

* * *

The day Sirius escapes from Hogwarts is not one of the happiest of his life. It's one filled with rage underneath the fog that clouds his mind. He slips through the bars—smaller than any dog his size ought to be—and past the Dementors. His tail hangs low and he is grateful for the limited amount of sadness he can feel in this form. The pain is less, but only a little.

He goes to see Harry, hoping that he was told, somehow, about Padfoot. But Harry's frightened of him; Sirius only wants a glance. But that glance nearly does him in. He is the spitting image of James and when he is human again, he vomits until nothing is left. He cries then, something he hasn't done in years, but he could've _sworn_ that was Prongs he was looking at. The fear in Harry's eyes at his dog form is different, though.

He shakes himself, remembering why he had done all of this—to get to Peter. He doesn't allow himself to think about what happens after. He treads down the street, newspaper in his mouth, looking right and left, and nervous that someone will recognize him.

"_Convicted mass murderer Sirius Black has escaped and is highly dangerous—"_ The fur on his back bristled as he heard those words on the news. They didn't know what they were talking about. He'd done his dues, paid them in, and made up for the murder of his best friend.

_If only…_His thoughts start to wonder but he chases those away. He has learned long ago that there is no point in pursuing them. It only leads to pain.

Hogwarts, now. That ginger cat is the one thing that makes him even a little happy. It almost makes him sorry that he chased him the first time they met.

He tries to break into the Gryffindor Tower and honestly didn't mean to slash the Fat Lady's portrait. Anger gets out of hand with him, sometimes, and he reckons that Azkaban has left him a little deranged. No entrance is gained, and he learns of his godson's hatred. His rage is focused now. He will prove his innocence and apologize to Harry.

It was stupid to go to that match, he knows. Someone could've recognized him. But the way he flew was_ so _much like James. It was if a double match of Quidditch was occurring as he watched. The one where Harry played so splendidly in the rain, and over that, the many many many games he had attended where James had effortlessly soared through the air. If only he could see his son now…

He gave him the Firebolt. He had to. Who cares about money made from blood? It was better spent on his bespectacled godson than rotting in a Gringotts vault. He wished to sign James' name on the tag, but that would never do.

That cat is a bloody blessing. He would kiss that cat if it wasn't a cat. The list of passwords, stolen from some dimwitted Gryffindor—a first year, perhaps. As he entered the room, slightly disoriented and very wary of the knife in his hand, he shredded the curtains of his old bed. As luck would have it, the redhead slept without the filthy rat curled on his chest. He woke and Sirius fled, his chance gone.

He laid low, waiting until the weather was warm and the air was fresh with possibilities. And there was the boy walking through the grounds with the rat huddled in his hand. Sirius had eyes only for Peter and _damn_ whatever got in his way. He dragged that boy down to the Shrieking Shack by his leg—oops—and heard the sounds of the other two following a while behind. Might as well wait for them.

He shifted back into his human state, slightly swaying as he stood. He hadn't been Sirius Black in months, just Padfoot. Two legs were disorienting and emotion unwanted.

When Harry looked at him with hatred, it broke his heart. The poor boy. He was not prepared for the attack and he could only laugh in disbelief as a wand was shoved in his face. Remus was a Godsend and his heart lifted at seeing his old friend again. They hugged, and Sirius knew that Remus was pushing tears away, because he was as well. They were here, all four of them in some way. Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail and Prongs' son.

Nothing had been more certain to him as he blearily watched the stag patronus prance around the Dementors, flinging them from him and Harry. And as he jumped on that hippogriff, he vowed to himself and Harry that they would be a family, really and truly.

But a man on the run is no family to the most famous wizard in Britain. And when Sirius hugs him in the hallway of Grimmauld Place, he can only think of James.

"_It's your son, Jamie. Your boy. He's all that I have left of you. I'll protect him. Don't you know that, Jamie? I'll protect him with my life. We're all that we have of each other."_

_(How right he was)_

He is so so upset when he hears that his reckless stupid heroic godson has gone charging to the Department of Mysteries to save him. He calms down. Fury will not save him. It does feel good to punch Malfoy; stay away from Harry.

When they're dueling, it again is like two battles being played over each other. The present and the past. He accidentally calls Harry 'James'. A mistake, one that he has no time to correct.

A duel between bad blood and even worse blood. Between family that is not really family. Between cousins, enemies, opposites. As his hand rises to attack, a jet of green light strikes him in the chest. He knows he is going to die in that moment, and he is laughing. He still laughs as he seeks out green eyes—not James'—because he is going to be with his brother.

"_I'm sorry. I did the best I can." _He silently tells Harry, tells Moony. He has to leave them and it is horrible.

But are we all not reunited in the end?

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_"I know dark clouds will gather me_  
_I know my way's rough and steep_  
_And the beautiful fields lie just beyond me_  
_And I know my way's rough and steep_  
_I'm going there to see my brother_  
_I'm going there no more to roam_  
_I'm only going over Jordan_  
_I'm only going over home now"  
-Wayfaring Stranger (Ed Sheeran)_

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_A/N Again: One word was changed in "Wayfaring Stranger" to make it Sirius-appropriate. "I'm going there to see my **mother**" was changed to "I'm going there to see my **brother**." _


End file.
